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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.1.17.pr-33.1.17.1

Payment Frequency in Legacies and Deficits in Wine

Passage 4944 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This chunk discusses the interpretation of a conditional legacy without the phrase 'every year' (whether it is a lump-sum or an annual payment), and the obligation to supply a legacy of home-produced wine from other years' vintages during a year of crop failure.

[LABEO libro secundo posteriorum a Iauoleno epitomatorum. ] §33.1.17.prLegatum ita est: 'Attiae, donec nubat, quinquaginta damnas esto heres meus dare' neque adscriptum est 'in annos singulos'.
[LABEO, book two of the Posthumous Works epitomized by Javolenus.] A legacy was as follows: "My heir shall be bound to give fifty to Attia until she marries," and "every year" was not added.
Labeo Trebatius praesens legatum deberi putat, sed rectius dicetur id legatum in annos singulos deberi.
Labeo and Trebatius think that the legacy is due immediately, but it will be more correctly said that the legacy is due every year.
§33.1.17.1'Uini Falerni, quod domi nasceretur, quotannis in annos singulos binos culeos heres meus Attio dato'. etiam pro eo anno, quo nihil uini natum est, deberi duos culeos, si modo ex uindemia ceterorum annorum dari possit.
"My heir shall give to Attius two culei of Falernian wine every year, from what is produced at home." Even for that year in which no wine was produced, two culei are due, provided that they can be supplied from the vintage of other years.

Notes

  1. §33.1.17.prpraesens — The adjective praesens is contrasted here with the subsequent phrase in annos singulos (every year), meaning a "present" or "lump-sum" (one-off) legacy. Labeo and Trebatius interpreted that despite the qualification "until she marries," it does not imply an annual payment but a single immediate payment. Conversely, the latter part (sed rectius...) suggests that it is more correct to interpret it as an annual bequest.
  2. §33.1.17.1si modo — Introduces a restrictive conditional clause ("provided that," "only if"). It indicates that the obligation for the legacy still arises even for a year with no production, as long as the requirement is met that the deficiency can be supplied from the vintage of "other years" (uindemia ceterorum annorum), whether past or future.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.1.17.pr-33.1.17.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.1.17.pr-33.1.17.1

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